Mindless Babblings of a Schadenfreude

Today was the last day for one of my team members, she's staying with the organization but moving to a different team in a different building. We had a carry-in lunch with lots of wonderful stuff, and we all chipped in a few bucks and bought fried chicken from the deli at a local grocery store. It was a nice day, we had a lot of fun, but then it was sad when she packed up her things and left.

Everyone at this house seems to be on the road to recovery. One grandchild felt well enough to go to school and stay the whole day. The other still had a slight fever this morning and stayed home. By the time I got here, everyone was fever free and able to eat small amounts of bland food.

At the office, there are four people out with the same complaint. If the Universe is on my side, I won't get it.

The sun was out, bright and shining, all day. It lifted my spirits and made me happy. However, my phone keeps screaming at me because the local weather stations are predicting thunderstorms all day tomorrow, and some are expected to be severe. I hope they're wrong...

My sister and brother-in-law arrived safely in Flagstaff around 1:00 pm and decided to stop for the night. If luck and the weather are on their side, they should be home Wednesday late afternoon or early evening. They've been gone since January 5, so I'm anxious to see them.

It was good at the office, too. Everyone was calm, there was no drama or petty behavior, and we laughed a lot. Also, I was able to get caught up from being out on Friday. Tomorrow, I should be sitting pretty.

So, to quote my friend Cube, 'Nobody I know got killed. I didn't even have to use my AK. I gotta say, it was a good day.' ;-)

While I didn't find true love, I did find food, which is almost as good. Several people brought in donuts and sweet rolls, others brought in chocolate. This made me very happy.

Just for lulz, I woke up before the alarm, so I made it to work about ten minutes early. While I was in the break room making coffee, a couple of other early birds joined me. One of them said something about the old 1960's television series Flipper, and since then I've had the theme song stuck in my head on an endless loop. Yeah...

A coworker who sits a couple of desks from me was in a manic state today. I don't know if she had a really bad night or a really good one, but she bounced around from one topic to the next, she spoke so fast that we couldn't keep up, and her volume was set at 11 (which is one more than 10, for those who get the reference). Several of us were asking around to see if there was a spare Klonopin, Ativan, Valium, or Xanax to be had.

Ah well, it's all over now. The wiener kids and I are home, they shared treats from their class parties with me, and we're just hanging out, enjoying ourselves.

Today wasn't what I would call a great one. I managed to get to the office without my phone and the Archos. No unmonitored internet use, no text messages, no tweets.

My supervisor learned about an "up front rejection report" last night that none of us had been working. I spent most of the morning gaining access to this report, including several calls to IS, a tech coming in to map the drive on my computer, receiving security clearance so I could view the report, only to find out that it was not pertinent to my office's responsibilities.

Additionally, today was my turn to work the billing questions email list. I had three separate requests from clinics asking me to research and resubmit every charge a particular patient had incurred since March, 2008.

Did I mention that it rained most of the day? Did I mention that I didn't win the lottery?

I managed to make it through without raising my voice or hurting anyone. When I arrived home, there was a message on my phone telling me the car was going to be MUCH LESS expensive to repair than originally quoted, and it should be ready tomorrow. Aside from the inconvenience of not having it, I'm very pleased.

I actually constructed a huge, spleen-venting post, but realized it was in excess of five pages, so I thought I'd save you all the aggravation and just cut to the chase.

I need a job where I can do exactly as I please in regard to my job duties, and if someone in another department has a question, suggestion, or a beef about it, my supervisor will jump in their sh*t with both feet!

Honestly, what's not to love about a job that eliminates all responsibility for one's actions. I want to tell someone else to research and correct my mistakes.

Having said that, I will now practice a little trick I learned from vickita about 12-13 years ago. I shall take several deep, cleansing breaths and allow the experience to wash over me while concentrating on the three day hollerday weekend.

Hope everyone eats plenty of cheezburgers and potaytoe salid and has a wonderful time!